VCC Magazine Summer 2018

School and Student Safety By Brian Moran

Speaker’s School Safety Committee By Bonnie Atwood One student death or injury is too many. We can understand and mourn the terrible accidents that kill or injure our children BUT they are just that – ACCIDENTS! But what we are unsuccessfully dealing with today are ACTS OF INTENTIONAL MAYHEM

School and student safety have been on the forefront of our minds in recent months following the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018, where 17 students and staff members were

gunned down. States around the nation are engaging in conversations about how to keep our children safe and prevent these senseless acts of violence. While Virginia has long established itself as a national leader on school safety due to our strong legislative mandates, as well as our investments in education and training, Governor Northam recognizes the need to build upon our strong foundation and ensure that our schools remain safe learning environments for our children. In 2000, following the massacre at Columbine High School, the Virginia General Assembly created the Virginia Center for School Safety and housed it within the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. The Center was initially created to serve K-12 public schools, and was charged with providing training, serving as a resource and referral center with technical assistance to school divisions, facilitating an annual school safety audit, and developing partnerships to promote school safety in Virginia. Over the years, the Center and its responsibilities have evolved significantly. In 2007, the nation mourned the loss of 32 Virginia Tech students and professors who were murdered during the deadliest school shooting by a single gunman in U.S. history. In response, the legislature established threat assessment teams and violence prevention committees on all college campuses, which was unprecedented at that time. Additional changes occurred during 2013–2014 after the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that claimed the lives of 26 young students and staff. Legislation renamed the Center as the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety, required every school division to designate an emergency manager, and mandated threat assessment teams in all K-12 public schools, making Virginia the first in the nation to adopt this type of policy. In order to assist localities with implementing threat assessment teams, the Center created a model policy in consultation with the Virginia Department of Education. Since their inception, threat assessment teams have played an important role in our schools. Comprised of individuals with expertise in counseling, instruction, school administration and law enforcement, these multi-disciplinary teams allow schools to prevent potential acts of violence by identifying individuals early on who pose a threat to themselves or others and connecting them with services. Through the Center’s annual school safety audit, which also collects information about threat assessment teams, we know that in 2016–2017, 9,238 threat assessments were conducted in our schools. Of that number, 928 (10%) were classified as a high-level threat, and a total of 40 (<1%) cases resulted in an act being carried out. It is important to note that half of all threats assessed involved threats of harm to self. Additionally, school safety statistics from 2014–2015 released by the National Center for Education Statistics indicate that it is rare for students to be murdered at school, but that suicide is now the second leading cause of death among youth. This data demonstrates that while we are doing a great job of intervening and preventing acts of harm against our students, we must continue to work diligently to address the complex challenges facing our youth. Many leaders in Virginia, including Governor Northam, are convening committees and work groups to identify opportunities to enhance the strong foundation we have built.

that CAN be PREVENTED. Unfortunately, our nation—even our Commonwealth—has seen many more than that. But what shall we do? How do you “keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you?” as Rudyard Kipling so eloquently asked. That is the over arching goal of the several committees on school safety which are now meeting, frequently and tirelessly, to address our worst nightmares. Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, Brian Moran, has described in the accompanying article the commitment of Governor Ralph Northam. Speaker of the House of Delegates, Kirk Cox, is simultaneously holding meetings of his bipartisan select committee on school safety. The list of issues is long—but here’s how it differs from the Governor’s Committee and the Democrats’ Committee: this one will not include gun issues. The committee has three subcommittees: • Prevention and response protocol. • Infrastructure and security. • Student behavior and intervention. Some of the initial takeaways have been: • No single approach will be completely effective. • Other states use multiple approaches. • Legislators have discussed the need to protect students from shooters, without sacrificing other safety measures, such as fire and egress. The committee and subcommittees have heard from a myriad of experts, both within Virginia government (such as JLARC and DGS), and without (such as vendors who sell safety equipment). Interested parties have come in droves to witness the Committee in action. Some meetings are held on school grounds, such as the one at Meadowbrook High School in Chesterfield County. It drew so many parents, more chairs had to be brought in. One avid watcher is Michael A. Jones, the Founder of Major Security Consulting & Design and a 40 year veteran of law enforcement whose tenure has included assignments as the security consultant for the City of Baltimore, Chief of the Virginia Capitol Police, Professor of Criminal Justice at VCU and a school security design expert. These talks are “providing a much-needed forum for the development of security standards and best practices,” he said. “Currently, these standards and guidelines do not exist in a form that provides for standard best practices. Instead of arbitrarily imposing standards that have NOT been vetted by the security professionals and the school personnel who have to utilize them, the Committee has taken the approach to seek out guidance from the experts - security professionals, architects, educators, support staff, public safety leaders as well as parents. “As a security consultant, I know that the best security practices will come from the synthesis of ideas from the diverse groups of caring people who know that protecting our schools is a must! “This committee is providing the leadership that is needed to develop a comprehensive approach that understands that schools should be secure, kids can feel safe, teachers can teach ...all in an environment that has been thoughtfully designed to be safe but not scary.” See Speaker's School Safety Committee , continued on page 7 • Virginia fares well in comparison to other states. • Some new approaches may be worth exploring.

See School and Student Safety , continued on page 7

V irginia C apitol C onnections , S ummer 2018

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